Studies on the thermal reaction behavior of polycrystalline cubic silicon carbide (SiC) with effusive xenon difluoride (XeF2) have been carried out over the sample temperature (T-s) range from 300 to 900 K using molecular beam quadrupole mass spectrometry combined with a time-of-flight technique and ex situ surface analyses, i.e., x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning Auger microscopy (SAM). Above T-s=700 K, the reaction product desorbed from the SiC surface was identified as SiF4. The flux intensity of SiF4 increases monotonically as a function of T-s above 700 K. The flux intensity of XeF2 desorbed from the SiC surface decreases above T-s=700 K, and at T-s=900 K, approximately 10% of the incident XeF2 Was found to be consumed by the thermal reaction. No ions at m/e=31 (CF+), 50 (CF2+), and 69 (CF3+) to be ascribed to carbon fluoride species were detected under the present experimental conditions, and thus C atoms in SiC were found to remain as residue. From the XPS and SAM observations of the SiC samples exposed to XeF2 vapor at 1.8 X 10(-4) Torr, we find that fluorination of a native oxide layer formed on the SiC surface takes place at T-s=300 K. At T-s=520 K, the native oxide layer was partially removed from the surface, and the presence of a reaction layer composed of partially fluorinated C atoms was observed. As T-s is increased above 520 K, the reaction layer becomes thicker. Above T-s=700 K, a thick reaction layer mainly composed of C atoms is formed, while only the near-surface reaction layer is fluorinated. The fast desorption of SiF4 products reduces the Si concentration in the SiC surface and the residual C atoms having comprised the SiC lattice are left as the reaction layer. (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society.